Google to penalise websites that are not mobile friendly

Google have officially made public their plans to penalise websites which aren't mobile friendly in searches made on mobile devices.

Starting April 21, we will be expanding our use of mobile-friendliness as a ranking signal. This change will affect mobile searches in all languages worldwide and will have a significant impact in our search results. Consequently, users will find it easier to get relevant, high quality search results that are optimized for their devices. Official Google Webmaster Blog - Read more here

If you use Google regularly, you may have noticed that when you search for something on your mobile, they sometimes have a little tag on their listing that says 'mobile friendly'. In the past, that's been there purely as an identifier, just to let you know whether you'll get a decent browsing experience on that site. As of April 21st, however, sites which aren't identified by Google as mobile friendly will be actively penalised and moved down rankings within Google.

What are the implications?

Say, for example, that 50% of your traffic coming from Google is on mobile devices (you can find out the actual figure in your site analytics). A demotion of your site in mobile searches could potentially wipe out half of your search traffic. With the proportion of mobile traffic increasing daily, search traffic will continue to decrease.

If you're currently working with an SEO provider, you may find that their charges could increase as it becomes harder to keep non mobile friendly, non-responsive sites ranked highly on Google.

How can I tell?

First things first, you need to check if your site is mobile friendly. Our website review service can help with this. It runs a plethora of tests, not just mobile friendliness, gives an in depth analysis of your site, and best of all, it's free! Give Chris Todhunter a call on 01962 659123 and he'll run a test for you.

What's next?

Don't worry! Here at Studio Republic we've been specialising in building mobile friendly websites since their advent. We can either work with what you have to make your existing site responsive, or we can redesign your site from the ground up to give you an entirely new face to your business.

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Volunteering with Raising Futures Kenya

We give our team 2 days a year to volunteer in the community. The challenge that our Brand and Marketing lead took on through volunteering with Raising Futures Kenya was an exploration of how faith fits into their brand story.